Crossing Paths
by Yukari Lockwell
Summary: Crossover Persona 3 & 4 roleplay with Anikayakushi, using our OC's and characters from Persona 3 and 4. Trouble is stirring in Inaba, Shadows have been sighted in the real world. The Shadow Operatives have sent a member to investigate, Gabby Con and with the help of the investigation team and Anika Yakushi, they discover a sinister plot behind this strange phenomena.
1. Chapter 1

Crossing Paths

Kanji Tatsumi was casually walking around Inaba, bored as heck. "Argh, goddammit." He sighed. Then, from the corner of his eye he spotted a girl with short brown hair, wearing a cat-ear headband.

"Huh?" Kanji has never seen this girl before in Inaba. Curious, he went to the girl. "Hey, you new here?" He asked.

"Huh?" The girl turned around startled, and before Kanji could say anything she grabbed his arm and flipped him! She then pulled a long spear from seemingly out of nowhere and slashed downward at Kanji's face. He rolled out of the way just in time. Her spear's blade was golden with a dark black-purple aura around it and stranger still it had several eyes running down the ends of the blade!

"Whoa!" Kanji yelped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He quickly got up in utter shock and surprise. "Seriously, what the hell are you doing?!" He looked into her eyes and saw that they were a pure gold colour. Was she a Shadow?

"Wha?" He paused. "She's got... Gold eyes..." He stared dumbfounded. "WHAT? A Shadow?! This doesn't make sense!"

She continued to attack him with many precise stabs. Then, as Kanji dodged, she swept his feet and drop kicked him. "God she's strong" Kanji thought, the girl kept up her assault with no signs of stopping, Kanji began to worry.

'Need. To. Get. Away.' Kanji thought. 'She'll fricking kill me!'Though she didn't give Kanji that chance, she grabbed him by the collar as he tried to crawl away.

"Aargh!" Kanji yelped again.

"?" Anika blinked. She was on a stroll when she heard someone yelling. "Sounds like Kanji..." She followed the sound on his voice before seeing Kanji getting his ass kicked by an unknown girl. "OH MY GOD KANJI!"

Hearing Anika, the girl dropped Kanji and stared at her blankly with a malicious smirk. Anika's eyes widened at the girl's expression, and her gold eyes. "Oh crap!" She realized what she'd done. No sooner did Kanji scramble to Anika, they both started running. The golden eyed girl gave chase. Running after them with ridiculous speed; considering the size of her spear.

"She's so fast!" Anika yelped, running wildly. "Kanji, why did she attack you?!"

"I don't know!" Kanji yelled. "All I did was ask if she was new here and she fricking grabbed me and flipped me to ground! Is she a Shadow?!"

"But Shadows can't come here in the real world, can they?!" Anika yelled.

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" Kanji responded yelling. They didn't dare look behind themselves in fear of seeing how close she was, but they did so anyways. The girl was no longer behind them?

"Did we outrun her?" Kanji asked, still running.

"But she was right behind us..." Anika said. Then, from above they noticed a shadow, getting...larger. The looked up to see her coming down from above with her spear above her head. Her crazy eyes glowed brightly in the shade.

"WAAAH!" Both Kanji and Anika screamed in utter shock. As fast as they could, they moved out from the shadow and away from the girl.

"HOW DID SHE GET UP THERE?!" Anika screamed.

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" Kanji roared back.

She swung her spear around her waist, almost slashing Anika and Kanji on the side in the process. They continued running franticly.

"Holy crap!" Anika yelped. "Guess I'm lucky I have my blade with me..."

But can I hold her off? Anika wondered. Regardless, she pulled the handle of her blade out from its scabbard that she apparently decided to have with her on that day and pulled out her gun blade. The golden eyed girl smirked and readied her spear.

"This looks like fun." She smiled before charging right at Anika.

"Whoa! Anika, what the heck, man?!" Kanji gasped, seeing Anika with her gunblade and the girl charging right at her.

Anika let out a deep breath. She was shaking slightly. She focused at the girl.

Her voice isn't so echoey either... Is she really a Shadow? She spun around Anika, preparing a stab to her back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ch." Anika gritted her teeth. The girl was fast. She turned around roughly the same time and swung her gunblade to deflect the spear from hitting her. Then, a blue glow began to envelope the girl and a sound similar to shattering glass resounded.

"Maneki Neko!" She cried.

"Wait. WHAT?!" Kanji gasped.

A tall slender woman wearing a calico cat mask, and clawed glove sleeves emerged from the light. With a raise of her paws she summoned an enormous golden lucky cat that slammed into the ground throwing gold coins everywhere! One hitting the golden eyed girl square in the forehead. Anika stood there completely baffled.

"Huh-what?" The girl mumbled, looking around confused. Anika raised an eyebrow.

"The hell just happened?" Kanji whispered to himself.

She stared directly into Anika's eyes, the eyes on her spear had closed somehow and her air seemed completely different. She smiled at Anika sweetly, "Hi! Who are you?" She asked holding her hands behind her back. Anika stood there in utter confusion. She slowly put her gunblade away with caution, "Uh... A-Anika Yakushi..."

Kanji was slowly inching closer, wary of what the hell was going on.

"Anika? Huh, that's a weird name. My name's Gabby, Gabby Con!" She ran up to Anika and hugged her so tightly that if Anika was a stuffed toy she would have likely exploded. Anika gasped at her sudden action, unable to even squirm slightly.

"Wah!" Anika gasped. 'A legit death hug dammit!' She thought. She stared at Kanji with wide eyes, but he didn't know what he should do, so just stared back, shaking his head and arms frantically in confusion.

"Oh! And who are you?" Gabby turned to Kanji with twinkly eyes.

"Huh?!" He blinked. "Uh, um, Kanji." He scratched his head. "Kanji Tatsumi." Please don't hug me, he thought.

"Haha! You have a funny name too!" She said, turning to death hug Kanji before he could react.

"Ack!" He yelped. "Why you're hugging me?!" He gasped out.

Anika took a really deep breath. "Oh god..."

"Why not?" She said, letting Kanji go.

"Uh..." He drew a blank. "Not... So sudden, and I don't even know you..."

"...Now that I think about it. I had a job here...guess I got sidetracked when I arrived." Gabby mumbled. "Have you guys heard any rumours about Sha-...you guys know what Shadows are, right?" Gabby asked and paused, "Then again...you guys probably don't know what those are...uhhh…Nevermind." Gabby turned around to walk away.

"Wai-wai-wai-wait. Shadows?!" Anika gasped.

Gabby turned around, "Yeah." she said, "You know about them?"

"Yes!" Anika blurted out.

"So you weren't a Shadow?" Kanji said.

"She summoned a Persona! She's not a Shadow!" Anika said to him.

"You guys know about Persona's? Do you guys have them too?" Gabby asked.

"Um, yes." Anika nodded.

"Oooh! Then maybe you guys can help me out." Gabby said, "I'm part of the Shadow Operatives and I was sent here to eradicate a Shadow that was rumoured to be somewhere in Inaba."

"Shadow Operatives..." Anika murmured. "Hm, well, I don't know much of the details, but one of my friends likely knows more than we do."

"Yosuke?" Kanji asked. "Oh, yeah... But Shadows are coming to this side of the world?"

"We aren't sure what's going on, so the Operatives sent me to investigate. Can your friend help me?" Gabby asked.

"Of course! I'm sure he won't say no to that." Anika said. She checked her watch. "He should be finishing up his work by now."

"Junes?" Kanji asked.

"Yeah." Anika nodded.

"Great! Thanks so much guys!" Gabby cheered as she shot ahead, and then stopped to turn around and ask, "Um...where is Junes?"

"Oh, right!" Anika blinked. "You're probably not familiar with Inaba. Here, follow us." Anika pointed to the direction of the Junes Court, before beginning to walk. Kanji trailed behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Gabby speed walked several meters ahead of Kanji and Anika, it seemed as though she did everything quickly. The two stared at their new acquaintance while she zipped around town on their way to Junes. She sure was energetic...That can't be a bad thing, right? Anika thought. Kanji simply followed, though occasionally thinking about Gabby's spontaneity and hyperactive nature.

"Hey! Is this Junes?!" Gabby yelled back, pointing at the large mall which was in fact Junes.

"Yeah, that's Junes! The Junes Court." Anika replied. "Try not to wander off, the mall is pretty big!"

Kanji stared. He had a feeling she wouldn't listen. Just as Kanji thought, Gabby rushed off into Junes without a moment's hesitation.

"Anika..." Kanji mumbled.

"She ran straight in." Anika stared.

"Well, what the heck are you doing?!" Kanji asked.

"Ah, r-right! We'll lose sight of her!" Anika yelped. And so the two rushed into Junes... Because it had so many things to offer, who knows where Gabby could have gone.

"Come out and look at this Obari!" Gabby cheered from a distance as she summoned another one of her Personas, this one was a short green haired monkey boy with a large box tied to his back. The two looked at the strawberry shortcake among other cakes in the bakery they were in, "They sure look delicious..." Obariyon said...

"God, where did she go?!" Anika gasped.

"She sure is fast..." Kanji muttered. "How'd she react to all the stuff here..."

"I dunno... But we need to find her." Anika said, trying to pick up the pace...

From a distance, Gabby and Obariyon made their way to the food court to eat their newly purchased slices of cake. Then, another one of Gabby's Personas appeared; this time, a small black cat wearing shogun attire, "You two do realize that you've gone completely off track from our original goal, AND now we've lost our guides! We need to go find them!" Neko-Shogun scolded bopping them on the head.

Anika and Kanji continued to look around. Then, they spotted Yosuke,"Yosuke!" Anika called out to him.

"Hm? Oh, hey guys. What's up?" He said to them.

"We're looking for someone who is currently in the Junes Court that knows about Shadows and has a Persona. Sadly, she sped her way through and now we've lost her." Anika sighed.

"We need your help, really." Kanji grunted.

"Oh, okay. And who is she?" Yosuke asked.

"Gabby Con." Anika responded.

Meanwhile…

"Okay, we'll go look for them..." Gabby said, grabbing her cakes and going to look for her lost companions...

"So she knows about Shadows?" Yosuke asked while the three wandered about.

"Well, she's a part of the Shadow Operatives, so yeah." Anika replied.

"Oh, hm. I wonder what she looks like." Yosuke said to himself.

"You'll be surprised." Kanji grunted.

In the distance Gabby caught a glimpse of Anika and was about to go to her when a calendar showcasing construction cranes stole her attention. Neko-Shogun tried helplessly to drag her away, but she was too strong. Obariyon and Maneki-Neko chuckled from the sidelines.

"And yeah, she looks like a regular here in Junes." Anika added.

"Oh, that should be fun..." Yosuke sighed. "So how exactly did it happen?"

"Saw the place; ran straight in." Kanji mumbled.  
Yosuke stared wide-eyed. "Right... Okay then!" He looked elsewhere. Anika sighed.

And this is Gabby normal? Wow. She thought. Kanji turned his head to look, but saw no one that was Gabby. Until…

"ANIKAAAAAAAAA!" a voice yelled and from absolutely out of nowhere, Gabby tackled hugged Anika, taking Yosuke down with them dragging them several feet forward into the ground. Kanji jumped a few feet back in shock of the sudden attack.

"AAAARRRGH!" Anika screamed in surprise.

"HOLY CRAP?!" Yosuke blared out as well, just shocked by what just happened. Kanji drew a blank, but was just as shocked.

"I was looking for you...sort'of! This Junes place is so HUGE! And FUN!" Gabby smiled cattishly squeezing Anika like a plush toy.

"Y-yeah, I-ca-n-t bre-at-h!" Anika gasped.

"You're killing her with your hug!" Kanji told her in desperation. Yosuke was still freaking out.

Gabby quickly got off Anika and immediately went right in Yosuke's face eyeing him suspiciously. "He wasn't here with us before...

"Whuh?!" Yosuke gasped at Gabby's suddenly action.

"Th-That's... Yosuke." Anika panted. "The one we... mentioned to you."

"You okay, Anika?" Kanji asked.

"More or less..." She sighed.

Gabby continued to move around Yosuke eyeing him thoroughly, "He definitely wasn't with us before...I'm Gabby Con! It's nice to meet you!" she said spontaneously holding her hand out to be shaken.

Yosuke blinked in utter blankness before slowly reaching out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you... Yosuke Hanamura."

"Oh so you're the friend Anika was talking about." Gabby said, smiling cutely.

"Yeah." Yosuke simply nodded. Anika got up after a while, brushing the dirt of her skirt while Kanji moved closer to the group.

"Anika told me that you might know something about the rumours going around about Shadows entering this world. Do you know anything about this?" Gabby asked Yosuke.

Yosuke nodded, "There's a lot of commotion at night at our school's gym. People swear they hear growls and stuff coming from the gym. One said they saw a black figure inside."

"I find it strange, really." Anika said, hands on her hips.

"Well, I guess we'd might as well check it out. Can you guys take me to your school?" Gabby asked, turning to Anika.

"Sure." Anika nodded. "Yasogami High it is." Kanji scratched his head.

"I guess I'll tag along."

"Hey, I'm coming too!" Yosuke said. "My shift just ended."

Thus, they made their way to Yasogami high. When they reached the gates they saw a blonde girl with short hair and an unusual headband standing at the entrance. She smiled at Gabby who rushed over to hug her, "Aigis!" Gabby said, hugging Aigis who was unfazed by her action.


	4. Chapter 4

"Aigis?" Anika raised an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"She's a member of the Shadow Operatives, just like me." Gabby responded. Aigis nodded and said, "It is nice to meet you," she looked at Kanji and Yosuke, "and it is good to see you two again, how have you been?"

"Great, I guess." Yosuke said. "Been a little busy, but fine."

"I'm good." Kanji replied.

Anika blinked, "Hey, didn't you meet during the Grand Prix?"

"Yes we did, that was an interesting turn of events wasn't it?" Aigis said.

"I thought it was more crazy than interesting." Yosuke scratched his head. Anika blinked again.

"I wish I could have been a part of it!" Gabby said, then a dark aura appeared around her, "I would have loved to see all of you fall before my blade's edge! Writhing in pain as I crush your very SOULS to DUST!"

"Uh..." Anika trailed off.

"What's going on...?" Yosuke whispered.

"Gahahahaha!" Demon Gabby cackled maniacally. Aigis sighed as though this was a normal occurrence.

"This is the second time..." Kanji muttered.

"Second time? Of her in this state?!" Yosuke asked. "What's wrong with her?!"

"What's wrong with whom?" Gabby asked, popping up behind Yosuke, promptly scaring the beejebus out of him. Her dark aura had disappeared.

"WHOA!" Yosuke yelled, jumping in surprise, pulling away. "What the hell?!" Anika let out a breath.

"Jeesh..."

"Oh yeah, what are you doing here Aigis?" Gabby asked. Aigis turned to Gabby and responded saying, "I was sent by the Shadow Operatives to assist you in the investigation. I asked the townspeople if they had seen you walking around town and that eventually led me here."

Anika tilted her head, "Oh, alright then." She looked at Yosuke and Kanji.

"Guess we're in this together." Yosuke said.

"Yeah, whatever's in there can't stand a chance against 5 Persona users, right?" Gabby said. Aigis nodded, "Indeed, our foe will not stand a chance."

Anika nodded as well. Yosuke gave a her thumbs up, "Shall we go then?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Gabby cheered. Everyone nodded and entered the school's gym. There they saw only a mass of black, moving black mass.

"Whoa, is this what you're looking for?" Kanji asked in surprise.

"Well they sure look like Shadows..." Gabby said. The mass continued to move and squirm, taking no notice to the group.

"Should we engage the foe?" Aigis asked.

"It'll give us an advantage if we strike." Yosuke said. "It doesn't seem to notice us."

"Take it as a good thing until something happens." Anika said.

"Here goes nothing I guess...Obariyon, Single Shot!" Gabby called, and Obariyon appeared to deal a weak attack to start the attack.

"Okay, Andras, Mazio!" Anika said, summoning a red human bird figure to send a light Electricity attack at the black mass.

Suddenly, it converged together into 2 giant Shadows! The two newly formed Shadows slammed their hands into the ground sending a shockwave at the group. Gabby who barely dodged the sudden attack summoned Neko-Shogun, "Matarukaja!" The skill boosted everyone's attack.

"Damn!" Yosuke gasped. "There are two Shadows now!"

"Just get'em! Rokuten Maoh!" Kanji yelled, summoned his Persona; a bulky armored figure with a red flaming design. It rushed at the Shadows to give a powerful thunderous punch.

"Pallas Athena, Akasha Arts!" Aigis yelled, and a woman clad in armor with a giant shield appeared to send a flurry of strikes to both Shadows.

"Maneki-Neko, Magarudyne!" Gabby called, summoning Maneki-Neko to deal heavy wind damage to the Shadows.

"Susano-o!" Yosuke yelled, and a male figure in a blue body suit with flaming red hair appeared like the wind to add that extra wind damage.

"Hantu Ribut, Bufudyne!" Anika cried, summoning a silvery masked woman in a ghostly-silver dress and long, stormy dark hair with lightning accents to send heavy ice damage at the Shadows.

The Shadows retaliated by using Stagnant Air to increase everyone's vulnerability to status ailments, then one used evil smile to inflict fear unto some of the group. The other used Ziodyne. (Fear inflicted on Kanji and Yosuke.)

"Argh, no!" Yosuke yelped.

"Aw, come on, man!" Kanji yelled. The two stood there trembling at their spots.

"Yosuke! Kanji!" Anika called out to them.

"I've got 'em! Maneki-Neko, Amrita!" Gabby cried, curing Yosuke and Kanji of fear. Aigis ran up to the Shadows firing bullets at one of the Shadows, "Let's concentrate our efforts on one Shadow. They'll be easier to take down if there's only one to fight!" She said.

"You damn Shadow!" Kanji yelled, pissed. He attacked again with his persona with strong thunder punches. Yosuke sent out wind blasts with Susano-o.

"Hantu Ribut, again! Bufudyne!" Anika yelled, attacking the same Shadow as everyone else.

"You're finished! Gold Cat!" Gabby yelled, finishing off the Shadow with Maneki-Neko.

"Yes! One down!" Anika said. "Take out the other one!"

Then, the other Shadow disappeared. Everyone looked around to figure where it had gone, but before they could react it reappeared behind Gabby and swallowed her up!

"GABBY!" Anika cried in surprise.


	5. Chapter 5

The Shadow began to morph into a smaller form, resembling Gabby!? Aigis stared in disbelief, "What is happening?" The Shadow chuckled, its voice distorted, but still that of Gabby.

"Wait..." Yosuke said slowly. "Is it... Mimicking a version of a Shadow Gabby?!"  
The Shadow opened its eyes, "I'm going to kill you all." It said bluntly, raising its spear at the group.

"Eh-what?!" Anika gasped.

"It's exactly as I told you, I'm going to kill you all." The Shadow repeated.  
Anika shook.

"Shadow... Gabby...?" Kanji said slowly.

"Having companions is so unnecessary; I did just fine on my own when I had no companions. Which is why I'm going to kill all of you now, I don't need any friends! Gahahahahaha!" The Shadow yelled before charging at Yosuke, spear readied for a powerful stab.

"Whoa!" Yosuke gasped, running away from her. She gave chase, stabbing repeatedly with ridiculous speed, laughing all the while.

"Argh! Fast as hell!" Yosuke said.

"Yosuke! Get out of it!" Anika yelled at him.

"I'm trying!" Yosuke called back.

"I've never had any friends, so I put up this huge act to make myself seem so happy and cheery all the time, but it's gotten me nowhere. It's easier to kill people than make friends!" The Shadow said, changing her focus to Anika.

"There's no reason to kill because of that!" Anika yelled.

"Oh why not? If you don't approve of my decisions why don't you prove me wrong, go ahead attack me!" It responded, spreading its arms leaving it wide open.

"I'm not attacking you to prove you're wrong! What is the point?!" Anika tried to reason.  
The Shadow ran up and slashed upwards, cutting Anika's shoulder, "Because you'll have to if you don't wanna get killed yourself!" It responded.

Anika stumbled back, feeling the pain on her shoulder. "I'll fight! But I won't hurt you!" Anika said still.

"Go ahead and try!" It yelled, continuing to slash at Anika. Aigis tried to jump in to assist, but the Shadow forced her away.

Anika pulled out her weapon: a silver, two-bladed gunblade with a green handle. 'As much as I would not want to use this...' Anika thought. She began to fight back, but not once did she ever try to attack.

The Shadow moved quickly, faking Anika out on several occasions. Until, it popped up right in front of her spear dead set on decapitating her, Anika, acting on pure instinct pulled the trigger and shot the Shadow several times in the stomach. "Augggh...Haha, see what I told you. You can run and block forever!" The Shadow sneered, backing off bleeding.

Anika had a worried, yet sympathetic look on her face. She had to do it in order to survive, but she did not want to do it. She tilted her weapon down, looking away from the blood dripping onto the ground.

"You're mine!" The Shadow jumped up to land a final blow on Anika, but Aigis sprung into action pushing it away. "Anika, please get a hold of yourself. I know you don't wish to hurt Gabby, and we don't have to hurt her. There must be some other way to get her back!" Aigis yelled, shaking Anika.

"I just..." Anika trailed off.

"Anika! Get your hopes up! This isn't really her!" Yosuke yelled. Anika looked up. "This isn't even her real Shadow!"

"... That's right..." Anika realized. The other Shadow simply swallowed Gabby and took her form, mimicking a Shadow Gabby.

'We can still save her...' Anika thought.

With their new found resolve they surrounded the Shadow, dead set on freeing her from the Shadow's grasp. Anika gripped her weapon harder. She ignored the fact that her gunblade was stained with blood.

"You ain't going nowhere..." Kanji said, clenching his fists.

"I'm not going anywhere!" The Shadow readied its stance, summoning Gabby's Persona though she appeared dark and distorted.

"Hantu Ribut." Anika said, bringing out her main Persona once more. She floated behind  
Anika; her dress flowing about. Anika let out a breath of hesitation before putting the tip of her blade to the ground, making a gentle yet sharp sound of metal hitting concrete.

The Shadow jumped out of the way yelling, "Magarudyne!" Then, a huge blast of wind hit the whole group, Yosuke was barely affected by it, but the others we're hurt badly.

"Yosuke!"

"Okay!" Yosuke sent out his persona to distract Shadow Gabby.

"Andras, Media!" Anika cried.

While being distracted by Yosuke, the Shadow used Muzzle Shot on Yosuke to temporarily keep him from using his Persona. Then, used Marakunda to decrease everyone's defense and followed up with a powerful Ziodyne to Yosuke.

"Grah!" Yosuke yelped in pain.

"Yosuke! Andras, again!" Anika yelled. Andras appeared again and healed Yosuke a bit. "Shiki-Ouji, Matarunda!" A female figure in a paper-related oufit appeared and lowered Shadow Gabby's and her Personas' attack.

"Dammit it all!" Kanji yelled, his Persona charging again.

"Dekunda!" The Shadow canceled her attack decrease and used Tarukaja to raise its attack and used Gold Cat on Anika to prevent her from healing.

"Ack!" Anika yelled. She stumbled to the ground, her Persona smashed to the ground.

"Ugh..." Yosuke groaned. 'She's so damn strong...!' He thought. "Don't give up! Keep fighting!"

"Damn straight!" Kanji yelled.

The Shadow turned round and kicked Kanji to the side, stabbing him harshly with the opposite side of her spear. Then, the Shadow used Lucky Mallet to increase its agility and evasion. Kanji grunted upon impact, but he pulled himself away from the spear.

"Hantu Ribut! Bufudyne! One more time!" Anika yelled. Her main persona appeared once more to send an icy attack at the Shadow. While it moved towards her, Anika gritted her teeth and rushed at Shadow Gabby from the other side.

To Anika's surprise, the Shadow didn't dodge even with a raised agility. It appeared to have hesitated slightly, allowing Bufudyne to hit it directly.

Anika blinked in confusion, stopping in her tracks temporarily. "What...?"

The Shadow looked back at Anika, directly in the eyes. It seemed to have been at war with itself, was Gabby fighting back?

"Gabby...?" Anika whispered in confusion.

"Anika, what's wrong?!" Yosuke asked. Anika did not respond. "Anika!"

The Shadow's eyes quickly returned to the same crazy look as before, and the Shadow took Anika's sudden hesitation to strike her arm, forcing her to drop her weapon. Then, it kicked her stomach forcing her to the ground. Aigis rushed over to help get Anika out of the way before the Shadow could do further damage.

"Dammit... Fooled again." Anika said in annoyance. She looked worriedly at her weapon on the ground.

"You shouldn't stop like that so suddenly!" Yosuke yelled. Kanji backed off, joining the rest of the group.

"Yeah, but she's really strong..." Kanji said. "But she is fighting herself."

"Yeah." Anika nodded. "But I don't know how much more time we can afford."

The Shadow appeared to use Magarudyne, but stopped. It took its spear and turned the blade on itself, stabbing itself in the stomach. Blood poured out of its wound as it collapsed to the ground. The Shadow squirmed around, "Damn you..." It said, managing to get itself onto its knees.

Anika gasped, along with Yosuke and Kanji. "GABBY!" Anika screamed. Before anyone could react, she scrambled up and ran to her.

The Shadow coughed, trying to turn its spear to the group, it's movement was severely hindered by some invisible force.

"Gabby..." Anika said, dropping to her knees.

"She's gaining control..." Yosuke whispered in awe.

"Yeah..." Kanji nodded his head. The Shadow screamed and yelled, struggling to gain control over Gabby.

"Stop fighting." Anika said to the Shadow. "You won't win."

"Shut up! I'll kill you all!" The Shadow yelled, managing to slash about with its spear hopelessly.

"No, you won't." Anika said sternly to it.

The Shadow's bleeding became increasingly worse as it struggled. Until, a dark aura left Gabby's body and she collapsed, pale and in need of immediate medical care. Aigis shot the aura and it disappeared into nothing.

"...Hospital." Anika suddenly said, then repeated, "Hospital."

"Anika?" Aigis questioned, pulling out a cellphone to call a hospital. She looked worriedly at Gabby, fearing for her life.

"We need to take her to a hospital. Now." Anika said.

Kanji looked at Anika, "You too."


	6. Chapter 6

A few weeks passed as Gabby recovered from her wounds. In the meantime, Aigis sent a report of the events that had occurred at the gym and stayed in Inaba for a little while before returning to Iwatodai.

Anika's shoulder healed quite steadily, but the doctors told her to take it easy. She felt uneasy herself about the event that occurred, but eventually decided to forget about it. Yosuke and Kanji occasionally stopped by to see how both of them were doing. One afternoon Yosuke suggested they go and visit, as Gabby had received the news that she was one week away from being discharged.

Anika agreed right away along with the others, and the company went to visit Gabby. When they got there they saw Gabby sitting in her hospital bed as she has been for heck knows how long. Gabby smiled and greeted them with her usual perkiness "Hi guys! Thanks for visiting!"

"Not a problem, but hey! You're doing well!" Anika smiled.

"Glad you're getting better!" Yosuke agreed. Kanji nodded as well.

"You bet! I'm tired of sitting in bed all day!" Gabby said, smacking her hand on her bed sheets to assert her point.

Anika smiled. "I'm sure you want to get out of here!" Yosuke gave a light chuckle.

"So, how's everything been for you guys? Anything interesting happen?" Gabby asked.

"Not much really, to be honest." Yosuke said. "Anika's fine with her shoulder injury, but not much has really sprung up out of the blue." Anika shrugged slightly.

"Well, I guess you guys have seen enough action for the next little wh-" Gabby started, but was interrupted when the door to her room was violently sent across the room!? Anika, Kanji, and Yosuke's eyes widened from the sudden and violent event.

"Wha...?!" Yosuke gasped.

From the door entrance a foot came down, and standing before them was a tall imposing looking woman in her early twenties. She had long carmine hair, scars, and wore a black leather jacket. She was looking directly at Gabby with a look that could only be described as pure unholy fury.

"What the hell happened to you?! I heard from Aigis that you landed in the hospital after a mission!" The woman scolded, walking up to Gabby's bed.

Anika had no words to describe what she felt at this moment. She did not know what to expect from this woman. Anika's eyes watched nervously from the woman's outburst. Lots of thoughts entered her mind.

'Who... IS she?! And why is she talking that way to Gabby?!' Anika thought.

"Sorry, I just kinda got swallowed up by a Shadow, and well I kinda got shot and stabbed in the process. But I'm doing fine now, and I'll be out in a week!" Gabby said, completely unfazed by this woman's actions. She seemed very familiar with her.

Anika just didn't know what to do at this point. She seemed in some kind of confused daze.

"Well at least you're okay. Jeez, I can't believe this." The woman sighed. Yosuke noticed Anika's daze and waved his hand about her face. "Hey, snap out of it!" He said. It took a few seconds.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Anika mumbled.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting any of this at all! But, I made some new friends! Just like you told me to!" Gabby smiled, pointing to Anika and the gang. Anika blinked, seeing Gabby point at them before looking at the woman. Yosuke scratched his head. Kanji raised an eyebrow.

"I can see that. I ought to introduce myself, my name's Hunter Fern. I'm a friend of Gabby's." Hunter said, turning to the group.

Anika managed a smile. "Anika Yakushi."

"Yosuke Hanamura." Yosuke said.

"Kanji... Tatsumi." Kanji grunted slightly.

"Nice to meet you all." Hunter said, nodding in recognition.

"As to you." Anika replied. Yosuke and Kanji just nodded.

"How about you guys spend the day with Hunter? It would be a great opportunity to get to know each other while I recover!" Gabby suggested, looking rather tired.

"I guess, if you don't mind." Yosuke shrugged. Anika nodded and Kanji just grunted.

"Not at all. Anyways, guess we ought to get going, you look tired. Get some rest." Hunter said, looking at Gabby before walking over to fix the door she kicked down.

Anika watched Hunter fix the issue. 'Kicking a door down...' She thought. 'She's more than strong, for sure...'

Hunter fixed up the door, and everyone left the hospital to spend the day getting to know each other.

"So I guess you're a Persona-user too?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah, I'll assume you guys are the same, right?" Hunter said.

Anika nodded, "Pretty much."

"So how did you meet Gabby?" Anika asked. She and Kanji clearly remembered how THEY met her. So did Yosuke.

"Ah, well...it's pretty complicated. I've known her since she was a kid, no one talked to me, but she approached me without fear. We talked, played, and supported each other, and…well the rest is history." Hunter said vaguely.

"Ah, I see." Anika said. Yosuke scratched his head. Kanji just followed.

"How'd you guys meet her?" Hunter asked.

"Uh..." Kanji blinked. "Well... I kinda just bumped into her since I didn't know her... But..."

"She attacked him." Anika said. Kanji meekly nodded. "I came later and saw them before she decided to chase us."

"Wait, so that's what happened?!" Yosuke asked. Anika just nodded.

"She eventually snapped out of that... State of hers and got along...and she death hugged both of us"

"I." Yosuke sighed. "Was tackled by accident and stuff...also got death hugged."

Hunter chuckled and said, "Yeah, that sounds like something Gabby would do."

"She does it often, i guess?" Anika asked. Yosuke shook his head remembering the tackle.

"Yeah, it's sort of her way of saying she likes you... the hugging at least." Hunter responded.

Anika raised an eyebrow. Kanji's eyes widened. Yosuke had a 'huh?' face.

Hunter didn't seem surprised by their reaction and continued, "Though I'm amazed you guys stuck with her after all that."

"I-I guess." Anika scratched her head.


	7. Chapter 7

Hunter looked back at Anika with a raised brow, "Well at least you stuck around, Gabby could use some more friends." Then she looked to the side at the steak kebab stand and suggested, "You guys probably haven't had lunch yet, how b'out we eat here?"

Yosuke shrugged. "We could a bite." Kanji simply nodded. "Ha, if Chie was here, she'd go nuts." Anika rolled her eyes.

They walked up to the stall and ordered some steaks before sitting down to munch on their lunch. Hunter finished most of her kebabs within seconds, and less than a minute after they sat down to eat, went to order more. The group simply stared at her in awe.

"Whoa..." Kanji gasped in shock. "She ate it all in a few seconds..."

"How...?!" Yosuke raised his eyebrow in confusion and shock. Anika shook her head in disbelief.

Hunter sat down again and glanced at them curiously, "What? I'm freaking hungry."

"I can tell... But you ate it in a few seconds!" Yosuke whined.

"Put it simply... We've never seen someone eat so fast." Anika said.

"Oh?" Hunter hummed.

"I guess it's fine. I mean, it's not like you're some kind of superhuman, right?" Yosuke nervously laughed. Anika said nothing. Kanji didn't know what to say.

After lunch, they walked around aimlessly for a while. Anika and friends didn't seem to know how to act around Hunter. They continued walking until Hunter suggested that they go to the famous hill overlooking the town; Hunter seemed rather interested so the group led her there.

After Anika, Yosuke, and Kanji led Hunter to the hill, they all shrugged at each other. They didn't know why she was so interested.

When they arrived Hunter walked right up to the hill and sighed, "Wow, this is some view. When Gabby got this mission, she couldn't stop talking about this hill. She really wanted to see it herself, and I can see why."

"Ah, I see." Anika said. "Well, yes. This spot has a great view of Inaba." She smiled. Yosuke and Kanji hung out a few feet behind, unsure what to really do.

Hunter looked back at Anika, "Say, do you like to spar?" she asked suddenly.

Anika blinked. "Hmph? Uh, not really." She replied, slightly confused. Yosuke and Kanji looked over, surprised by her sudden question.

"Aw, that's unfortunate. I was thinking a spar would be perfect to get rid of all of the tension between us." Hunter sighed, slightly disappointed.

"I personally think-"

"It would be neat to see how you fight." Yosuke said suddenly. Anika's head turned around furiously. Kanji scratched his head.

"Sure..." Kanji agreed.

"H-Hey..." Anika protested.

Without warning, Hunter grabbed Anika by the arm and dragged her off. She turned around to Yosuke and asked, "Do you know any good sparring spots?"

"If you go downhill a bit, there's an opening there." Yosuke replied. He secretly gave a thumbs up towards Anika, who looked really angry at him. Kanji seemed interested, curious to see how this would turn out.

They walked over to the spot Yosuke mentioned, and without Anika's consent, the spar was on. Hunter and Anika went to their respective sides of the 'arena' and Hunter went over the rules, "This'll be a no Persona spar, you can use your environment to your advantage, and weapons are allowed. Got that?"

"Uh.." Anika trailed off, honestly not sure what to say. She now had to fight Hunter thanks to Yosuke. She had wide eyes in disbelief. 'Oh my god, I actually have to fight her...' Anika thought, 'Damn you, Yosuke.'

Yosuke sat with Kanji. "Jeesh, you actually wanted to see them fight?" Kanji asked.

"After seeing Gabby fight, I think I do." Yosuke replied casually.

"O-okay..." Anika said nervously. She surprisingly had her gunblade with her.

"Alright! Ready to go?" Hunter asked, throwing her leather jacket off to the side revealing her shoulders and arms. She carried multiple throwing knives on a string wrapped around her waist, all gleaming white. Anika gulped, a small sweat drop falling off the side of her face, Hunter was very muscular.

Anika's left hand shook slightly while holding her weapon. 'First Impression: I'm gonna Lose.' Anika thought. 'Next: I'm definitely going to get you, Yosuke.'

"Oh, yikes." Yosuke commented.

"Holy crap." Kanji said, jaws hanging.

Hunter smirked, raising her arm to gesture Anika to attack, "Come on!" Hunter called. This was it.


	8. Chapter 8

Anika hesitated before pulling the trigger on her gunblade and firing at Hunter. However, to Anika's sheer terror, Hunter dodged each shot, disappearing and reappearing closer and closer to Anika after each shot. Hunter then appeared in front of Anika, punching her in the gut with such force that Anika was thrown into the air. Kanji and Yosuke gasped in shock, how could she possibly...

"WHOA!" Yosuke yelped.

"DA HELL?!" Kanji gasped. Anika had wide eyes as she flew in the air. 'OH MY GOD!' She thought wildly. That punch gave a stab of pain at her gut, and Anika was stuck in her position for a few seconds before managing a roll across the ground as her landing. She quickly pushed herself up in utter shock. 'Yeah, I'm gonna get my ass kicked.' She thought, gripping her weapon.

Hunter pulled out her string on knives, letting them all into the air. Then, she grabbed them and began throwing them in Anika's direction. Anika ran away from them as fast as she could, ducking and rolling away frantically.

"Wow, her aim's really good." Yosuke said. Anika was lost in her own thoughts. 'Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god! I CANNOT FIGHT HER LIKE THIS!' Anika dodged more of the knives and attempted shooting again.

In retaliation, Hunter flipped away and punched the ground on her third flip sending rock debris into the air. She then kicked them, sending them flying in Anika's direction.

'F***!' Anika screamed silently. She scrambled to get away from the rock debris. Yosuke and Kanji were utterly shocked.

"HOW CAN SHE DO THAT?!" Kanji yelled.

"AM I REALLY SEEING THIS HAPPENING?! THAT IS NOT HUMAN STRENGTH!" Yosuke screamed.

Hunter stayed where she was, looking down at Anika. She opened up her arms, leaving herself wide open for an attack, taunting Anika.

"Is that your best?" Hunter taunted, blatantly trying to annoy Anika.

"NO!" Anika wailed angrily. "You're not letting me attack!"

"Is that so? With that attitude it's no wonder Gabby wound up in the hospital!" Hunter shouted. This was the final straw for Anika.

"HEY!" Anika said angrily. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Oh shoot." Yosuke said. "She's getting on the pissed side."

"Ya think?" Kanji retorted.

Hunter smirked and casually walked over to Anika, towering over Her. Then, Hunter raised her arm and swiftly punched her in the face, "I gave you a perfect chance for you to attack me, but you didn't attack. You say it wasn't your fault Gabby wound up in the hospital, but you're doing nothing to prove that to me!"

Anika stumbled backwards, glasses falling away from her face, crashing to the ground. "True... But it's not my nature to act that way." She spat angrily at Hunter.

"Jeesh..." Kanji sighed. Yosuke shrugged.

"Bullshit." Hunter walked over to Anika and picked her up by the neck, lifting her into the air.

Yosuke and Kanji watched Anika struggle with a bit of concern on their faces.

"I feel a bit of hate here." Yosuke murmured.

"Hunter's not impressed." Kanji said simply.

Anika struggled in Hunter's grip, she looked down into Hunter's eyes and saw a pure white flame glowing within her pupiless eyes. Hunter seemed as much enraged as she seemed somewhat frustrated, but about what?

"I'm not sure this fight should continue..." Yosuke said after a while, watching the two girls.

"Nah." Kanji said. "Anika's gotta face this."

"You sure?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah, wait a bit." Kanji answered.

Anika was temporarily paused by Hunter's eyes. She wasn't sure entirely what the idea was behind the emotions blaring out from her eyes, but it certainly meant something. "If you're frustrated at me..." Anika said, "Then just tell me why. What did I do?"

Hunter let Anika go and pinched the bridge of her nose, "It's not you, it's me." Hunter groaned, " I just wish I could have been there to help Gabby."

Anika stared at Hunter before shaking her head. "You know how to put the wrong idea in someone's head, Hunter." She said, looking away slightly.

"Hah," Hunter chuckled, "That helped me blow off some steam, thanks for that. You look like you could use some help in the combat area, and I'd be more than happy to oblige. It'll give you something to do for the next week, what'dya say?"

Anika managed a smile. "Why not? I could use it." Her smile faded slightly when she remembered she didn't have her glasses. "Oh jeesh." She moaned. Yosuke and Kanji got up and walked up to the girls to join them.

Hunter looked over at them with a questioning look, both Yosuke and Kanji we're awestruck. "You're crazy, you know that?" Yosuke said. Kanji didn't know what to say. Anika was on the ground trying to find her glasses.

"Crazy? How?" Hunter asked.

"I don't get your speed, your power, your fighting style, and your physical abilities, all of it!" Yosuke said, with an awestruck look.

"Hmm, I guess I've always been around people who found that pretty normal. Plus, you needed to be strong to fight off the Shadows that appeared for years after the Dark Hour came into being." Hunter said.

"I suppose it's normal to you and whoever the other people are, but it's kinda not for us." Yosuke said.

"There's a big difference between our, yours, Gabby's, and Aigis' strength." Anika said. Kanji nodded in agreement.

"Suppose so." Hunter said simply, and they all went back to town.


End file.
